Stats may not show it, but Lawrence feels ‘great’ about the progress he made as rookie

Regardless of the numbers he put on paper, former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence feels he made strides during his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Although the statistics may not suggest it – Lawrence completed 59.6 percent of his …

Regardless of the numbers he put on paper, former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence feels he made strides during his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Although the statistics may not suggest it – Lawrence completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards and 12 touchdowns with 17 interceptions in his first NFL campaign – the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft believes he improved throughout the course of the season and likes where he is heading into year two as a pro.

“I had a lot to learn this past year and still have a ton to learn,” Lawrence said this week in an appearance on NFL Network’s NFL Total Access. “But I feel really good with where I’m at. I think I progressed as the season went on every game. The stat line might not say that, but I just know mentally and the situations I was in and the things I was exposed to, I feel great about the progress I made and where I’m at.”

For Lawrence, the biggest adjustment and challenge of transitioning from college football to the NFL was understanding situational football and learning how to put his team in the best position to win games.

“I would say situational football I think is so much more important in the NFL compared to college,” he said. “I could count on one hand probably the amount of games in college that came down to one or two possessions, and in the NFL, it’s pretty much every week. You’re not going to have many games where you win by multiple scores, and I think that was a big adjustment for me and realizing the importance of that and just learning a lot.”

It was a difficult season for Lawrence and the Jaguars, who finished 3-14 and went through a coaching change in December when Urban Meyer was fired 13 games into his tumultuous and controversy-laden tenure.

But after the hiring of former Philadelphia Eagles and Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson, Lawrence is optimistic about the new direction of the Jaguars’ franchise and believes he will have good chemistry and click well with Pederson, a former NFL quarterback.

“We’ve talked a couple times,” Lawrence said. “We talked, I guess Thursday right before everything was official, and then I got to meet him when he came into town after when he did media and all that. So, I’m really excited. I think personality wise, we mesh really well. I think we’re similar. And just kind of seeing the job he did in Philly and the success they had and the things they were able to do offensively is really impressive.

“I do think it’s cool having a head coach who is that offensive guy, who was a quarterback, has that experience to draw from. I’m really excited for that and I think it’s going to be a great combination, and excited to see the rest of the staff come into place and really just get back to work and make all these improvements we need to make in order to have the year we want to have next season.”

Two years ago, Joe Burrow – after playing against Lawrence in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game while at LSU – was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Now, Burrow is getting ready to compete for an NFL title on Sunday when the Bengals face the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

Obviously, Lawrence knows the leap the Bengals have made – going from 2-14 in 2019 to where they’re at now – is very difficult to do and the culmination of a lot of different things going right. And while Lawrence would love to experience a similar turnaround in Jacksonville and get to a Super Bowl himself sooner than later, right now, his focus is simply on controlling what he can control and being the best quarterback and leader that he can be for the Jaguars in his second season.

“Obviously what Joe’s been able to do is really impressive,” Lawrence said. “Especially when you think about the injury last year, too, it’s pretty cool to watch. And I’ve got a couple teammates on that team, so I’m excited for them. But I think you can’t fix everything on one year. Obviously the Bengals, it seems that way. But I know that was probably a few years in the making and some decisions that they made all kind of came together.

“But for me, it’s just one, doing what I can do to be the best player I can be next season, not worrying about necessarily everything else that’s involved in it because there’s a lot of things and I can’t control everything. But I can control the offseason I have, how prepared I am, how fast I get this new system down, and just getting together with some of the guys this offseason and starting to mesh and click and getting that chemistry right before we get into camp. I think that will be really important, and really excited to do that and learn this new offense. I think it’s going to be great. But it starts there – it starts with taking ownership of what you can control, and then from there, being able to lead the team and take everybody with you.”

–Photo for this article courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks